High school volleyball here on the Treasure Coast is firmly in its second season following a compelling week of district tournament action.
Between six brackets including local teams, three squads played well enough to lift sought-after championship trophies. As a result, those schools, with a potential state-playoff home opener on the horizon, slept easy leading up to Saturday’s upcoming release of the FHSAA regional brackets.
Regional quarterfinals are scheduled to begin for Classes 1A-3A on Tuesday, with Classes 4A-7A following on Wednesday. All regional semifinals will take place on Saturday, Oct. 25. Regional finals for Classes 1A-3A are scheduled for Oct. 28 with Class 4A-7A on Oct. 29.
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Here’s a look at the area’s three district champions as well as the teams that took runner-up honors:
2025 Treasure Coast district volleyball champions
Martin County – District 8-6A
It’s only fitting that the Tigers punctuated their turnaround season against Dwyer
The Panthers ended Martin County’s 2024 campaign in sweeping fashion during last year’s district title match.
With 364 days to stew over the defeat and a second shot at the team that took them out, the Tigers made good of their chance to exact revenge, dispatching Dwyer on its home floor in four sets Thursday night to bring home the program’s first district crown since it completed a run of 10 consecutive titles in 2016.
Set scores were 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 25-19.
Skeptics at the season’s start may not have given Martin County, a team coming off a 9-15 season, much of a shot to reclaim its past glory. But head coach Jessica Warren was not one of those people.
“I did think this was a possibility because I knew we had the talent and experience. A lot of this team was here last year for that (last year’s district title match),” Warren said. “This is a veteran crew that’s been playing volleyball for a very long time, playing together for three or four years.”
Emelia Glover is both loaded with talent and experience.
In her fourth season as a varsity player, the outside hitter was as overwhelming as she has been throughout her senior campaign. She paced the visitors with an eye-popping performance, stacking up 25 kills, 29 digs and two blocks. Glover leads the area with 303 kills this season.
Elsewhere, Brynn Burgk and Grace Murphy split the setting duties, recording 21 and 15 assists respectively. Burgk chipped in three blocks and 12 digs while Murphy added 14 digs.
Kaylee Alvarez added 17 digs and was one of four Tigers with a pair of service aces. Lastly, Madelyn Axtell led the victors with four blocks.
How did Martin County pull it off? Keeping the pressure up by executing the “normal stuff,” according to Warren. That meant attacking from various angles and positions on the floor while protecting against any openings versus a talented group of Panthers hitters at the net.
The Tigers were the No. 2 seed in the district and improved their record to 17-9 this season. Entering the district tournament ranked fourth in Region 2-6A, Martin County will host a regional quarterfinal match on Wednesday.
“My girls have worked hard through a couple of injuries this year and bounced back by pushing each other,” Warren said. “We have a good group of seniors on the team, too. It’s been fun and amazing to see them come together and play hard.”
Pine – District 13-1A
Last season, the Knights knocked off host Lake Worth Christian to capture their first district title in a decade.
Pine faced a similar dilemna this season in its journey to go back-to-back. Despite being the No. 1 seed, the Knights needed to outlast Atlantic Christian in its own gym to finish the feat.
Regardless of the obstacles, Pine was not to be denied, successfully defending its district championship thanks to a four-set triumph on Friday in West Palm Beach.
“I think this means a lot to the program. We’re showing that we’re a strong team and a building program,” Knights head coach Devin Mitchell said of repeating. “And I’m really proud of the girls for all the hard work they put in each year to try and show everyone that. We just hope to continue to do the same thing each year.”
Set scores were 25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 25-16.
Mitchell acknowledged her team wasn’t sharp out of the gates, noting trouble at serve receive early on and inconsistency blocking at the net for portions of the night. Once the players got used to the setting, they played the brand of volleyball that netted them 16 wins in 22 matches heading into the night.
“It definitely was a challenge and not something we were excited about going in because they have a very big crowd,” Mitchell said. “Being the No. 1 seed, it’s kind of tough going into that (environment), but after they shook the nerves off with all the noise that was going around us, we played hard. … They didn’t let it phase them.”
Pine (17-6) began districts as the No. 2 seed in Region 4-1A. If the rankings hold at the top, the Knights would host their first two regional matches.
Legacy – District 8-5A
The first-year Lions are batting 1.000.
Thanks to upsets over South Fork and top-seed John Carroll, Legacy (21-7) hoisted the first-ever district title in school history after prevailing in a five-set thriller against the Rams.
Visit TCPalm for an in-depth recap of Thursday’s Distict 8-5A Final.
District runners-up
Vero Beach – District 8-7A
Vero could not repeat as district champions after being sent back in four sets at No. 1 seed Jupiter on Thursday night.
The Warriors, who dropped last year’s district title bout in three sets at Vero, won the rematch in four sets, with scores of 17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23. This was Vero Beach’s (19-5) first defeat outside of abbreviated tournament matches this season.
After being the last Treasure Coast team standing in 2024 with a run to the regional finals, Vero may begin the state playoffs on the road. The team entered districts ranked fourth in Region 2-7A. West Orange, who was ranked fifth, won the District 5-7A crown and would have homecourt advantage in a potential matchup.
John Carroll Catholic – District 8-5A
The Rams were forced to settle for second place for the second consecutive season.
Last year, they were swept in the district title match by Jensen Beach. They returned the favor this year by blanking the Falcons in the district semifinal only to be denied in five sets one match later against Legacy.
Last winning a district title in 2015, the program will have to wait another year to snap its drought. Still, John Carroll (14-3) is in good position to host a regional quarterfinal. The team was third in the last regional rankings leading up to districts.
St. Edward’s – District 8-1A
The Pirates were overmatched in two previous regular season meetings with Brevard HEAT, losing all five sets. But the third time was nearly the charm.
St. Edward’s gave the district’s top seed all that it could handle. But the second seed’s upset bid wasn’t enough, losing in five sets to the Firehawks on Thursday at Merritt Island Christian. Set scores were 25-18, 18-25, 11-25, 25-15, 15-12.
Even with the loss, the Pirates (15-11) continue to strengthen their playoff case. They are 5-2 in their last seven matches. St. Edward’s entered districts ranked fourth in Region 2-1A after spending much of the season near the bubble.
Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at 772-985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Treasure Coast high school volleyball: 3 local district champions, 3 district runners-up
Reporting by Patrick Bernadeau, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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